Iran, Azerbaijan Launch e-Tir Pilot Project

The e-TIR pilot project between Iran and Azerbaijan was launched on June 18 at Iran’s Astara that borders the neighboring country.
Safar Mehdiyev, Azerbaijan’s Chairman of State Customs Committee, and Mehdi Mirashrafi, the head of the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration, were in attendance for Tuesday’s ceremony, IRIB News reported.
Azerbaijan and Iran signed the basic principles for the paperless version of the Convention on International Transport of Goods Under Cover of TIR Carnets (TIR Convention) in October 2018 and January 2019, respectively.
Iran has already conducted e-TIR Pilot project with Turkey. e-TIR system allows the two countries to have access to all related information at any time and view the information of cargo before delivery, which is useful for both sides and reduces the risk of deception, accelerates customs formalities and reduces costs.
TIR Convention is a multilateral treaty concluded at Geneva, Switzerland, on Nov. 14, 1975. As of June 2017, there are 71 parties to the convention, including 70 states and the European Union. 
The system not only covers customs transit by road but a combination is possible with other modes of transport (e.g., rail, inland waterway and even maritime transport), as long as at least one part of the total transport is made by road.
Fully digital TIR enables the system’s capabilities to be harmonized with other digitalized procedures in the multimodal fields of logistics, transport, e-customs and other relevant domains.